PAP town councils to raise S&CC from June

SINGAPORE: Residents in all 15 town councils run by the ruling
People’s Action Party (PAP) will have to pay more in service and
conservancy charges (S&CC) starting in June.

The increases will be phased over two years, with the first
increase on Jun 1 this year ranging from S$0.50 to S$9 a month,
depending on flat type, the Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council said
in a statement on Friday (Feb 17).

The second increase, which takes effect on Jun 1 next year,
will be between S$0.50 and S$8 a month.

S&CC for shops and offices as well as market and cooked
food stalls located in the 15 town councils will also go up.

Shops and offices will pay an additional S$0.09 to S$0.27 per
sq m a month in the first round of increases, and another S$0.05 to
S$0.21 per sq m a month from June next year. Market and food stalls
will pay an extra S$2.70 to S$23.00 a month in the first increase
and an extra S$2.50 and S$17.50 a month in the second
increase.

The increases are necessary for the town councils to keep up
with rising costs associated with maintaining estates, the
statement said.

For example, cleaning costs - which account for about 20 per
cent of the town councils' annual expenditure - have risen as
cleaning companies spend more on mechanisation, training and
progressive wages for workers. Pest control costs have also gone up
as more treatments are being done at common areas, it said.

The S&CC increase will also help the town councils build
up their sinking funds to maintain and replace old lifts, and carry
out the Lift Enhancement Programme, the statement said.
“Expenditure requirements in these areas are significant and will
continue to grow as our estates get older,” it added.

Earlier this year, the Government announced that all town
councils will have to set aside at least 14 per cent of their
S&CC and Government grants from April for a lift replacement
fund. A Lift Enhancement Programme was also launched last September
to modernise older lifts in public housing estates.

Individual notices will be sent to residents to inform them of
the new S&CC rates.

The Government has typically handed out S&CC rebates in
previous Budgets. Last year, between one and three months' of
S&CC rebates worth S$86 million were given to about 840,000
households. In Budget 2015, S$85 million of S&CC rebates were
handed out and in 2014, S$80 million of rebates were given.

Hi guys I am working on my dissertation for which I need responses for a survey. It is just 2 questions. It would be a great help if you could help me out. Thank you guys in advance. Link: https://goo.gl/forms/uxCIra5acXydviNA3